Page 326 – Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Amtrak in the Red, as Taxpayers On the Hook for Enormous Overtime Costs

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:July 1, 2014
Post category:Amtrak Appropriations Congress House Michi Iljazi Spending Taxpayers Protection Alliance

The economy is struggling to regain footing after a recent report that gross domestic product fell at a 1% annual rate, vs. the 0.1% increase first estimated earlier in the year. This pain is being felt by the millions of Americans who continue to look for a job and those that have a job try to make ends meet with fewer dollars. Government officials seem oblivious to the dire economic straits as the President proposes new regulations and Congress fails to cut spending. But, probably the most out-of-touch government entity is Amtrak, which continues to lose more money and ask for more from taxpayers. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance uncovered astonishing overtime numbers that show that thousands of employees receive more than $35,000 in overtime compensation. The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations (THUD) Bill for fiscal year (FY) 2015 details the alarming overtime figures. In 2013, Amtrak paid out more than $185 million in overtime expenses. Of that amount, $49 million was paid to 1,022 employees who accrued more than $35,000 in overtime. Doing some simple math, that means each employee averaged $47,000 in overtime. With an average salary of more than $80,000, these overtime expenses push those salaries to more than $120,000. This revelation comes at a time when Amtrak is projecting losses and looking for $1.19 billion in operating costs and capital expenses. The deficits Amtrak has been running are nothing to take lightly, the specific numbers should call into question why exactly taxpayers are continuing to subsidize something that loses hundreds of millions of dollars each year

July Brings New Changes for Many Taxpayers in Different States

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 30, 2014
Post category:E-Cigarettes Michi Iljazi State Issues Taxes Taxpayers Protection Alliance

The first of July marks the start of the fiscal year for many states, and as with many other years, it also brings the start of changes to the tax code for many individual states. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has kept a close eye on tax increases over the past year, including efforts to raise taxes on e-cigarettes in New Jersey, Ohio and Rhode Island. Last July TPA highlighted exactly what would change in several states across the country. Now, that time of year is once again upon us so here is a brief summary of how the tax code will change for taxpayers in selected states. Even though an increase in the minimum wage is not a tax increase, it is important to note exactly where minimum wages have been increased as Congress continues to debate the issue. Fortunately for taxpayers, not all the news is bad, there are some tax decreases. Click 'read more' below to see the list of changes across the country.

LRASM v Tomahawk: Defense Appropriators Spending More for Less

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 27, 2014
Post category:Appropriations Budget Defense Michi Iljazi Spending Taxpayers Protection Alliance

U.S. Navy Tactical Tomahawk launch (courtesy Wikimedia Commons) The Pentagon is a classic example of a federal agency that spends money on unnecessary programs. Congress is an integral part of the problem as they appropriate money for programs that are duplicative and unnecessary. This problem was highlighted when the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) exposed that the Omnibus spending bill which was passed earlier this year was filled with more than $7 billion in unrequested earmarks. The debate over earmarks isn’t the only problem that taxpayers must continue to fight, there is also the question of efficiency and how best to spend money when it is actually necessary. Though TPA focuses a great deal on the wasteful spending on projects and programs that are not needed, there is a need to focus on how to make sure that spending is done responsibility when dealing with competing technologies and programs that aim to achieve the same outcomes or serve similar purposes and interests. The F-35 is a glaring example of the Pentagon spending money on a weapons system that is unneeded and overly expensive. Besides the much-publicized problems with the F-35, two weapons systems that put a spotlight on this problem are the Tomahawk Missile program and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) program.

Plastic Bag Banners Rebuked In New Study

Post author:David Williams
Post published:June 26, 2014
Post category:District of Columbia Taxes Taxpayers Protection Alliance

This article originally appeared in The Daily Caller, on June 23, 104 A new study from the Reason Foundation has again proven what we’ve known for a while now: plastic bag bans don’t help the economy or the environment. The only result of plastic bag bans is the government filling their coffers with more money to be wasted.The study examined bag bans generally, ultimately finding that legislators “who are genuinely concerned about reducing litter and other environmental problems should focus their efforts on solutions that have been proven to work.” Specifically, it found that banning or taxing plastic bags, in all that regulatory excess, equates to a “minimal impact on litter.” There’s no evidence in waste reduction or collection and, worse still, bag bans are actually shown to harm the environment. It’s well-documented that reusable bags take more energy to be produced and are less likely to be reused. This was reinforced by the Reason study. Reusable bags are bacteria-laden and shown to increase health risks when not properly washed. Given the radical lot pushing these bans, it’s not ridiculous to envision a vicious cycle of even more bag regulations coming if the plastic bag eradication is allowed to continue. After all, it doesn’t make sense to them to go back to what was working perfectly fine in the first place. Not only does the study show a negative environmental impact, but bag bans do damage on the economic front also. The costs of implementation wind up falling mostly on the poor than anyone else, all for the sake of a system that uses more energy and drains resources from the economy.

The Internal Revenue Service's Latest Excuse for Stonewalling Congress, and Taxpayers

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 24, 2014
Post category:Congress Michi Iljazi Taxpayers Protection Alliance

It’s been more than a year since the scandal of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting non-profit groups for ideological purposes came to light. Taxpayers are still no closer to any type of meaningful and honest explanation as to why a government agency was able to abuse their power and wreak havoc on Americans attempting to participate in the political process. TPA has continually called for the release of any and all communications between any IRS officials in the Cincinnati, Ohio field office and the headquarters in Washington, D.C. who had any responsibility with the granting of tax-exempt status to non-profits. These emails are key to discovering how and why the agency was focusing on groups solely based on ideology and who knew what and when regarding the illegal targeting of Tea Party groups. Now, more than year later after calling on the IRS to embrace transparency regarding the email communications, we have learned that taxpayers will probably never find out the truth regarding what officials at the IRS may have known about the targeting of conservative non-profits because of “lost” e-mails. On Friday, in the typical Washington style of dropping major news right before the weekend, Congress was informed that the IRS had lost mass amounts of emails from Lois Lerner’s account. Their explanation was akin to “the dog ate my homework.”

Congress Watch: Biennial Budgets and Congress

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 23, 2014
Post category:Appropriations Budget Congress Spending Taxpayers Protection Alliance

When somebody has a limited amount of time to look at a large, complicated issue, many of the details are bound to escape notice. The number of details missed increases when multiple distractions take away from the limited viewing time. The federal budget is no different. Each year, Congress is required to complete what has become the cumbersome (and expensive) process of funding the federal government. Between the first Monday in February (when the President presents his spending plan to Congress) and the end of the fiscal year on September 30th, Congress must formulate, enact, and execute the federal budget. For many different reasons this process has become an annual exercise in futility. It leads to a mad scramble to keep the government operating through continuing resolutions and ends in the passage of an omnibus spending bill. The result is an almost eight month long spectacle that puts the focus on the big picture, allowing many of the important details to escape notice. For decades, Congress has considered ditching annual budgets for a biennial budget process. While the details of the plans differ, the basic premise is that Congress would use the first year of each Congress to formulate, enact, and execute a budget for the next two years.

E-Cigarettes the New Target for Gov. Kasich in Ohio

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 20, 2014
Post category:Budget E-Cigarettes Michi Iljazi Spending Taxes Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Recently, TPA wrote about the ridiculous tax increase offered by Gov. Chris Christie on e-cigarettes (click here). This week we continue the series with Ohio, where Republican Governor John Kasich has proposed new taxes on E-Cigarettes. One of the motivating factors for this is that revenue from traditional cigarette taxes is declining. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance has written extensively about how estimated tax revenue from tobacco taxes never materialize (file that under: we told you so!). This type of phenomenon, that TPA calls “Fool’s Gold,” can be seen in several states, and internationally. The Ohio proposal is a part of the Governor’s Mid-Biennium Review (MBR) and Will Upton with Americans for Tax Reform detailed the specific pieces where Kasich is aiming for tobacco and e-cigarettes. The simple fact is that selectively targeting products and industries with tax increases eventually drives consumers out of the market, eventually harming businesses and taxpayers. If prior examples are any indication of what to expect, the revenue generated will not hold up and will not solve the problems that the state may have in filling their budgetary gaps and priorities in the future unless taxes are increased.

TPA Joins Bipartisan Coalition Supporting Defense Appropriations Amendments

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 19, 2014
Post category:Appropriations Congress Defense House Michi Iljazi Spending Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Right now in Washington, D.C. there is a great deal of activity in Congress as members rush towards the July 4th holiday break. The last few weeks we've seen a several appropriations bills make their way through committees and onto the House and Senate floors funding Transportation, Education, Housing, Energy, and Defense. Today, as Congress continues work on H.R. 4870, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015 it is important to know that there are a great deal of attempts made by representatives on both sides of the poltiical aisle to use these spending bills as a vehicle to save money for taxpayers. As much waste and unncesary spending as we see during the rush to get appropriations bills through both chambers, there are also examples of smart and reasonable amendments that will cut spending and provide taxpayers with a rare win. Today, in a letter sent to the House by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), TPA joined with Antiwar.com, Coalition to Reduce Spending, Council for a Livable World, DownsizeDC.org, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Just Foreign Policy, National Priorities Project, National Taxpayers Union, Peace Action, Peace Action West, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Taxpayers for Common Sense, United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), Win Without War, and Women’s Action for New Directions to support several taxpayer-friendly amendments that have been put forth in the debate of the 2015 defense spending bill. TPA is hopeful that more amendments saving taxpayer dollars will be put forth as the appropriations process continues in the coming weeks. Click 'read more' below to see the full letter

Senate and House Offer Legislative Relief for (not so) Little Orphan Earmarks

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 17, 2014
Post category:Appropriations Congress Earmarks Michi Iljazi Taxpayers Protection Alliance

U.S. Department of Transportation Several weeks ago the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) posted a blog about a new effort by some in the United States Senate to bring back congressional earmarking (click here). The move, supporters say, is aimed at helping get more legislation through a gridlocked Washington. Earmarks have been banned for several years now, after citizen outrage of the billions of dollars being spent on earmarks and the corrupting influence they had on the political process. Now, legislation aims to get rid of “orphan earmarks,” those earmarks that have remained “idle,” because of long-term delays and even cancellations. In 2008, Congress responded to taxpayer outrage and instituted transparency rules for earmarks, and then in 2010, the House and Senate agreed to a two-year moratorium on earmarks. Though the moratorium was extended and most earmarks disappeared, there was still room in the Defense spending bill. In fact, TPA uncovered 186 earmarks worth $7 billion (click here to see the full list) in the Defense Appropriations Bill that was part of H.R. 3547, the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act, aka the Omnibus appropriations bill. The money that is put aside for earmarks in just one bill can be a staggering amount, as evidenced by the DoD spending bill mentioned above. Something important to note however is that sometimes the money is not spent immediately and at times just sits in an account. Taxpayer money is left unaccounted for, yet appropriated for pet projects that may never see the light of day.

Congress Watch: Senate's Student Loan Bill Wrong Way to Get Graduates Out of Debt

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:June 16, 2014
Post category:Congress Education Spending Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Ask anyone who has had to pay for one recently and they’ll tell you the same thing – the cost of obtaining a college education is soaring. For decades, prices associated with going to college have been rising faster than inflation. So, last week, the Senate put aside its work to ensure that our nation’s veterans have access to the medical care they need to consider legislation to make college more affordable for students who have already graduated. Forty million Americans hold approximately $1.2 trillion in student loan debt currently. According to Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), undergraduate students account for 85% of all student loan debt, owing an average of $21,600. The typical student who graduated with a four-year degree owes about $27,000. Despite all of this debt, a college education is still one of the best investments an American can make. According to the Census Bureau, a college degree is worth an extra $1 million in salary over an individual’s working lifetime.